Feeding-mechanism.



' M. J. WBLLING.

FEEDING MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.5, 1913.

1,075,276. Patented Oct. 7, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

M. J. WELLING. PBEDING MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 5,1913.

lg', Patented Get. '7, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

M. J. WELLING.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.5,191a.

1,075,276. Patented 001.11913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

M. J. WELLING.

FEBDING MBGHANISM. Y APPLIOATION FILED MAR.5,19'13.

'1,075,2?6. l menue@ @011.11913 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.-.

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Fig. 2 is a would appear MATTHEW J'. WLLING, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 -JOHN HOWARD MoELBOY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oct. '7, i913.

Application filed March 5, 1913. Serial No.- 752,039.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, MATTHEW J. WELL- ING, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FeedingMechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

My invention is concerned with feeding mechanism intended primarily tofeed st-rips of tin or sheet-met-al to a punch press or other automaticmachine by a step-by-step movement, and is designed to produce a deviceof the class described in which the stepby-step feed shall beaccomplished by a continuous rotary movement, instead of thereciprocating movement heretofore em loyed. My invention is furtherconcerne with certain novel combinations of elements, as hereinaftermore particularly specified.l

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto four sheets of drawings, inwhich the same reference characters are used to designate identicalparts in all the figures, of which,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a punch press hav-in my inventionapplied thereto; ront elevation of the same as it looking at it at rightangles to the `lineof movement of the punch; Fig. 3 is a plan view insection on the line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a similar View in sectionon the line B-B of Fig. 1, with a portion of the casing broken away;Fig. 5 is an er1-- larged detail in section on the line C-C of Fig. 3; 6is a view in section on the line D-D of *im 5; Fg.l7 is an enlargedsection in detail on the line E-E of Fig.` 6;4

Fig. 8 (Sheet 2) is a erspective view showing the under side o a pirate;Fig. 9 is an enlarged view t-hrough one of the cups, showing the valvemechanism therein; and Fig. 10 is a detail in section, on a large scale,on the line F-F of Fig. 3.

I have shown my invention as applied to a punch press having the base 10supported on the legs 11 in the customary manner. It maybe applied toany sort of an automatic machine where a similar step-by-step feed isnecessary, but l have shown it as' attached to the aforesaid punch pressas being the machine with which it was primarily desifrned to cooperate.The punch press is o the ordinary construction, and I have shown theautomatic feeding mechanism as actuated from the main shaft 12 of saidpress.

As seen in' Figs. 1 and 2, a bracket casting 13 is bolted to t-he baseof the ress, and the inclined front side 14 thereofP has projectingtherefrom a shelf 15 which serves as a support for the blank strips 16piled thereon. The strips 16 must be raised one b one from the pile atthe proper time, an for this purpose I employ theffollowing mechanism:The shaft 12 has secured on one end thereof a miter gear 17 which mesheswith a similar ear 1S secured on the upper end of the sha t 19, which isjournaled at its upper end in a suitable bearing bracket 20 extendingout to one side from the main frame of the punch press, and at itsbottom in a bearing recess 21 formed in the plate 38, to be hereinafterdescribed. 'The shaft 19 has secured on the lower end thereof aspur-gear-wheel 22, which, if the feeding mechanism is designed to feedeach strip in four steps, will have one-fourth the diameter of thespur-gear 23, which is rigidly secured on the short shaft 24 journaledin the bearing bracket 25, whose axis is parallel to the axis of thebracket 20. The upper face of the spur-gear-wheel 23 has secured thereonthe face cam `26, and the cam roove 27 thereof is'occupied by theantifriction roller 23 secured on the lower end of the vertical armofthe bell-crank-lev'er 29, which is fulcrumed on the bearing bracket 30,also secured to the adjacent side of the frame of the punchpress. Theouter end of the horizontal arm of the bell-crank 29 is pivotallyconnected by a pin passing through a slightly elongated slot to the ears31 of the bar 32, which has at its ends bearings 33 through which passthe'tubes 34 of the vacuum cups 35 secured on the lower ends thereof.yThese tubes 34 are adapted to slide through stationary bearing sleeves36 which are supported by brackets 37 from the cover plate 38, which issuitably suported, as will be hereinafter described, rom the bracket 13.The socket-s 33 of the bar 32 are provided, as indicated in dotted linesin Fig. 3', with spring-pressed plungers 39, which coperate with thetubes 34 to hold them in frictional engagement with the sockets 33. Theupper ends of the tubes 34 are suitably connected, as seen in Fig. 5,

lasV

with a transverse tube 40 from which the in Fig. 9, the tubes 34 havetheir lower-ends will be closed.

closed and an aperture 41 is made in one side, with which coperates theground end of a lever 42 pivoted at 43 in ears supported on the interiorof the cup and tending to hang by gravity so that the aperture 41 Withthis arrangement, the vacuum cup is not operative until it is low-- eredupon the sheet of tin, when'the con tact of the tin with the lower endof the lever 42 will rock the latter so as to open the aperture 41, whenthe vacuum will be formed in the cup. V

lThe operation of this lifting or separating mechanism for the tinblanks willvbe apparent. At each four operations of the press, the cam26 will be given onecomplete rotation, and this, acting through thebellcrank, will raise andlower the cups. .As the cups are lower-ed, thetubes 34 move with the sockets 33 until the cups 35 strike the.uppermost plate of tin, when the downward movement of the tubes mustcease, and. thereafter the sockets 33 slide down againstl the springpressure of the plungers 39 until the e-nd of the stroke is. reached.During.

the return. stro-ke, the cups rise with the tubes 34 until the collars44 contact with the lower ends of the sleeves 36, after which the.sockets 33 must slide on the tubes 34./ The.,

. tween the surface 46 ofY the intermediate against the stop 48 formedon the intermediate plate 45, I employ a sliding plate 49, which ismo-unted to slide in suitable ways formed in' the cover plate 38, andwhich is provided at its forward end with two hooks 50, the lower endsof which extend just below the level of the sheets of tin 16 held up bythe cups,35. A helically-coiled contractile spring 51 secured at one endto a bracket 52 and at the other end to the center of the rear of theplate 49, tends to pull said plate 49 to the rear, and its movement iscon- 'trolled by the anti-friction roller 53 jour naled on the upperside of said plate and co- '3 operating with a cam 54 secured on theunder side of the gear-wlieel 23. The design of this cam is shown 1nFig. 4, where 1t will be seen that there is a surface 55 extending .tothe center of the cam, so that when the cam rotates far enough for theanti-friction roller 53 to reach this surface, the spring 51 will thenbe free to draw the plate rapidly t0 the rear, and thus carry the sheetof tin into the guide slot and against the shoulder 48. This inward feedof the sheet, of course,

must be rapid, as it must occur between one of the four ystep-by-step.feed movementsy wheel 56 which is connected by a sprocket chain 57 witha similar sprocket wheel 58 secured upon the upper end of al short shaft59 journaledin stationary bearings formed in the bracket 13 and theplates 38 and 45.

other similar spiir-ge-ar-pi1iions 6() loosely mounted on three stubshafts 61, one of `which is" shown in Fig. 7. There are three idlespur-gear-wheels 62 which are journaled on headed pins secured in theouter ends of the arms 63, which are mounted on the lstub shafts 61. Theshafts 61 have collars 64 thereon, and their lower ends are threaded andpass through elongated slots 65 formed in the horizontal portion 47 ofthe bracket casting' 13. These collars 64 rest in correspondingly largerecesses in the ends of the arms 63, and by the connections thus shown,it is possible to space the four spurgear-wheels 60 apart any desireddistance within the intended range of adjustment so as to securedifferent lengths of the step-bystep feed. It will beapparent that theshafts 61 can, be shifted in their slots 65, and when they arevspacedapar-t the desiredy distance, the arms 63 are swung to the proper angleto bring the spur-gear-wheels 62 in" -propermesh with thespur-gear-wheels 60,

after which the nuts 66 on the threaded ends of the shaft -61 are.tightened up and the parts are held in their desired position ofadjustment.

The actual st-ep-by-step feeding of the sheets of vtin is accomplishedby anti-fricti0n rollers 67, which are preferably of veryv This shafthas secured thereon a spurfgear-pinion 60, and' there are three oftheintermediate plate 45. The action of y l.

this step-bystep feeding mechanism will.

now be apparent. Supposing that a sheet of tin 16 has been fed by theother mecha nism into the position shown in Fig; 6, The

shaft 19, through the connections described, rotates all thespur-gear-wheels 60, and the three inner anti-friction rollers 67 willpass through notches 71 in passing from the surface 72 of theintermediate -plate 45 to the surface 46 of said plate. The notches 71are not deep enough to permit the anti-friction rollers 67 to engage theedge of the plate 16 which is now resting against the oifset 48, butsaid anti-friction rollers 67 engage the underside of the body of theplate, and do not serve to materially displace the same. The outermostanti-friction roller 67, however, is free to engage the rear end of thesheet 16, and as it. moves forward' from the position shown in Fig. 6,it will feed the sheet far enough so that. as the second anti-frictionroller 67 comes around 0n the succeeding movement, the end of said sheetwill be in position to be engaged by the end of said second roller, andso on until the sheet is fed entirely through, and at the end of thelast feed of the sheet, the spring 51 will act to bring a fresh sheetinto place.

, I have also shown, in connection with my feed mechanism, a kick-olf,which con-I sists o f an arm 7 3 having a pawl 74 pivoted on its lowerend 'so' that saidlpawl can swing t0 the right of the position shown,but'not to the left, and said pawl will be springprgssed in thecustomary manner of' these devices. The arm 73 is rigidly secured on arock shaft 74a suitably journaled in bea-rings formed in the frame ofthe press, and a short arm 75 is secured on the other end of said rockshaft. This arm 75 is engaged by a pin 76 carried by the spring-pressedrod 77, mounted t-o slide in suitable bearings in the framework of thepress Land having an anti-friction roller 7 S at the out-er end thereofcoperating with a cam 79 secured on the upper end of the shaft Ahelicallycoiled expanding spring 8O interposed between the end of therod 77 and a bearin 81 serves to hold the rod 77 in its retractedosition, in which the arm 73 hangs vertical. lVhen the cam 79 comes intoaction, it thrusts the rod 77 rapidly to the right, and this swings thearm 73 to the right very quickly, and the dog 74, which has engaged anaperture in the sheet of tin which is ready to be discharged, by thisrapid movement throws the sheet clear of the machine so as to be out ofthe way of the next sheet that is fed thereto.

I preferably provide suitable springy mechanism for holding the plates16 of tin in the guideway or slot, and forthis purpose I may employ theconstruction best shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 10, where 1t will be seen thatI provide three tubes 82 associated with the cover plate 38 andextending down through apertures in the intermediate plate 45. Themiddle one of these three tubes will extend through an elongated slot 83formed in the reciprocating plate 49. Mounted in these tubes arespring-pressed plunger-rods 84 having heads 85 on the lower ends thereofwith the edges beveled olf so that a 'sheet tin thrust into the guidewaywill raise the plunger against the resistance of the helically-coiledexpanding spring placed in the tube between the head 85 and theadjusting nut 87 threaded in the top of the tube 82, by which thetension of the springis regulated tosecurel the desired pressure. Theseplungers 84 are opposed to the angles 88 which are formed in the casting47, and furnish as much support for the blank 16 as is convenientandstill leave clearance for the anti-friction rollers 67.

l-Vhile I have shown and described mylinvention as embodied in the formwhich I at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, itwill be understood that it is capable of modifications, and that I donot desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claimslence t as mayv be necessitated by the state of t e prior art.

That which I claim as new, and desire to secure. by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is:

1. In a feeding device, the combination with a rotating shaft parallelto the axis of the press, a cam carried by the shaft, and means forrotating the same; of a bell-crank lever having a vertical armlcoperating with the cam, and a horizontal arm; a tube sup- 2. Inafeeding device, the combination with a rotating shaft parallel to theaxis 'of the press, a lcam carried by the sha-ft, andv means forrotating the same; of a bellerank lever having a vertical arm coperatingwith the cam, and avhori-zontal arm carrying a cross-head; tubes slidinin said cross head, means for guiding t e tubes; and friction devicesinterposed between the cross-head and the tubes, for the purposedescribed. Y

3. In a feeding device, the .Combination with a rotating shaft parallelto the axis of the press; a cam carried by the shaft, and means forrotating the same; of a horizontally sliding hook-member coperating withthe cam, and a spring to return the hook member.

4. In a feedingl device, the combination with a rotating shaft parallelto the axis of the press, two cams carried by the shaft, and means forrotating the same; of a bell-crank lever having a vertical armeoperating with one of the cams, and a horizontal arm; a tube supportedfrom-the horizontal arm, means for guiding the tube; a horizontallysliding hook-member coperat-ing with the other cam, and a spring toreturn the hook f the shaft, and means forrotat'ing the cam; of-ahorizontal .spring-pressed plunger extending through the frame of thepress, a

rock shaft at right angles thereto extending throughI the frame of thepress, anV arm on said rock-shaft engaged by therodnear the axis of thevrock-shaft, and a kick-off arm depending from said'rock-shaft.

6. In afeeding device forn-punch-presses, the combination with arotating shaft parallel to the `axis of the press, three cams carriedby.- said shaft, and means for rotating.

the same; of abell-cra'nk lever having a vertical arin coperating withonel of the cams, anda horizontal arm; a tube supportrock shaft at rightangles tothe plunger also extending through thel frame ofthe press, anarm on the rock-shaft engaged byy the plunger near the axis of therock-shaft, and a kick-off arm -depending from said rock-shaft.

7. In a device ef the class described, the combination with a guideway,of a series of rotating, step #by-step feeding members swinging throughsaid way `durin a p0r-` tion of their rotation and acting to eed onlyduring said portion, and means for rotating said members.

8. Inv a 4device of the class described, the combination with aguideway, of a series of rotating, step -bystep feeding members swingingthrough said way durin a por-y tion of their rotation and, acting to eedonly duringy saidportiommeans for rotating said members, and means foradjusting'the distance between said members without disengaging therotating means.

9. In 1av device lo f the class described, the combination withfaigu'idewa'y, o-f a series of rotating step-by -ste feeding membersswinginfythrough sai way during a portion oft Yeir rotation and actingto feed only during said portion, eccentrically mounted anti-frictionrollers on said members, and means -for rotating said members. f

10. `In a device ofthe class described, the combination vwith aguideway, of a series of bearing shafts .mounted therein, rotatingwheels journaled on. said Shafts, spring arms Copies .of vthis patentmay be obtained for extending transversely of the shafts, contactmembers carried by thel outer ends of said arms and swinging throughsaid way during a portionof their rotationy and acting to feed onlduringsaid portion, and means for rotating said wheels.

11. In a device of the class described, the

' combination with a. guideway` having a shoulder at its rear edgeagainst which the sheet to be fed rests, of a series of rotating membersswinging through said way on one side ,of the sheet therein, said waybeing partially out away on one side .to permit said'swinging" of therotating members', contacts carrie-d by said members, and openings insaid shoulder to permit the passage of the contacts. v v

12. In a deviceof the class described, the combination witha supportingmember having a recess-in its-upper surface, of a pluo rality ofrotating members journaled .in said s recess, arms pivoted on saidmembers, contracts carried by the free ends of the arms,

springs tending to throw the arms upward,i

means for rotatingv said members, a plate above said supporting memberhaving a shoulder thereon cooperating with the upper surface of thesupporting .member t0 form a way, and recesses inthe shoulder t0 permitthe assage of the contact members. 13. In a evice of the classdescribed, the combination with a supporting member having a pluralityof slotted apertures therein, of a corresponding plurality of bearing`studs mounted therein, means for securing said bearing Vstuds vin anydesired position in the slots, shoulders on said studs, gear wheelsjournaled thereon above the shoulders, arms` interposed between theshoulders and the supporting members, bearing pins carried at the outerends of the arms, idle gear-wheels on saidl pins meshing with the firstmentioned gearwheels, contacts carried by the first mentionedgear-wheels, a plate over the supporting member forming `a guidewayandhaving ashoulder, recesses in said shoulder i to permit the passageof the contacts, and means for rotating saidA gear-wheels.`

In witness whereof, 'I have hereunto set my hand and atiixed my seal,this 28th day `of February, A. D. 1913..

` MATTHEW J. "VVELLIl5TGn [14s.] Witnesses 2.

JOHN HOWARD MCELROY, JNO. G. ELLIOTT.

liveV cents each, by laddressing"the Commissioner of` Patents,Washington, D. C. v v

